Benefits and Risks of Social Media Use in Children and Adolescents

Many children younger than the minimum age of 13 years participate in social media activity.

Much preadolescent and adolescent social interaction occurs on cell phones or on social networking sites including Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace. An estimated 75% of teens own cell phones, 54% use their phones for texting, and about 25% log on to social media sites more than 10 times per day. The American Academy of Pediatrics released a clinical report on the benefits and risks of social media. Among the highlights:

Benefits

Enhanced communication with family and friends
Opportunities for community engagement
Collaboration and exchange of ideas through blogs, podcasts, and videos
Access to health information

Risks

Cyberbullying: deliberately using digital media to communicate embarrassing or hostile information about others (the most frequent on…

Reviewing Author

Howard Bauchner, MD

Disclosures

Grant / research supportHuman Resources and Services Administration; NIH; NIH-NHLBI; USDA; GlaxoSmithKline

Editorial boardsArchives of Disease in Childhood (Editor-in-Chief)

Howard Bauchner, MD

Disclosures

Grant / research supportHuman Resources and Services Administration; NIH; NIH-NHLBI; USDA; GlaxoSmithKline

Editorial boardsArchives of Disease in Childhood (Editor-in-Chief)